ENGLEWOOD – Schools Superintendent Donald Carlisle will step down at the end of next month, a year before his contract with the district was set to expire.

The school board unanimously accepted his resignation shortly after midnight Wednesday at the end of a lengthy, four-hour meeting. A search for a new superintendent will begin immediately, School Board President Howard Haughton said in a prepared release. An interim superintendent might be hired if a replacement cannot be found by the beginning of the school year in September, he said.

Carlisle said Wednesday that he decided to leave early to “pursue other personal and professional opportunities.”

“Dr. Carlisle has served this district with dedication and perseverance since he joined us three and a half years ago,” said Haughton. “He has brought a clear vision for the success of our students and has led his administrative team in making progress toward some difficult goals. We wish him nothing but the best in his next venture.”

Carlisle took over as superintendent in January 2011, replacing Richard Segall. Since the beginning, his salary – initially $200,000 – has been a source of controversy, as it exceeds a state-imposed cap that went into effect in February 2011.

Although his contract was negotiated and approved by the school board before the cap was put in place, Carlisle said it has never been approved by the state-appointed executive county superintendent.

District officials have said they sent Carlisle’s contract to the then-county superintendent, Aaron Graham, on Nov. 3, 2010. Twelve days later, on Nov. 15, Gov. Chris Christie said the state wouldn’t approve any more contracts until a review of all superintendent pay deals was conducted.

Englewood school officials said they never heard back from the state, so they sent a letter in December 2010 announcing their intention to approve Carlisle’s contract, which was signed on Dec. 21, 2010.

Robert Gilmartin, who succeeded Graham as executive county superintendent, has said the district did not seek approval from the state. In November 2011, he warned the district that state aid would be withheld if Carlisle’s salary was not lowered to $167,500, the most a superintendent could earn in a district of Englewood’s size under the new cap.

The threat never became a reality, however, and the district continued to receive state funding.

Carlisle said his current salary is $212,000.

After the board accepted his resignation, he said the salary dispute had not played a factor in his decision to leave. He said Wednesday afternoon, however, that he felt the controversy had been a distraction for the district. With his resignation, school officials can focus on the district’s pressing academic needs, he said.

“I think, in a way, this issue is behind them,” Carlisle said.

During Carlisle’s brief tenure, he oversaw the highly controversial decision to outsource approximately 100 secretaries and classroom assistants to partially plug a $4 million budget shortfall. Employees and their supporters protested the move. Voters later ousted the school board president and a vocal pro-outsourcing board member, voting in three anti-outsourcing replacements.

“Obviously, his legacy will be the outsourcing,” said Junius “Jeff” Carter, one of the three board members elected in the wake of the controversy.

Despite this, Carter offered some praise for the departing superintendent.

“I think he came into a difficult situation. I think he handled it as well as he could…He had a tough job to do,” said Carter.